Efforts for an International Conference

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in his oral report to the Security Council on
27 March 1991, informed the Council on the series of separate discussions his
representatives had with the two sides as well as with senior officials in Turkey, as part of
his efforts to achieve an agreed outline of an overall agreement which he considered as a
sine qua non for reconvening a high-level meeting. After presenting his assessment of
these discussions and the views of the two sides on the headings of the outline, the
Secretary-General concluded that "there are a number of issues on which possible solutions
remain to be explored before the two sides can be brought within agreement range".
Among these he underlined the issues of territory, freedom of settlement and displaced
persons, i.e. the very issues on which Turkey had shown an utterly intransigent and
inflexible attitude and provided no answers to the Secretary-General. Expressing the view
that the discussions should continue, the Secretary-General proposed to report again to the
Council by July 4 1991, stressing that "if by that time an agreed outline of a settlement has
not been reached, it may be timely for the Council to review the entire situation and
consider what further measures may be needed to help achieve the objective".
On 17 May 1991, the European Parliament in a resolution on the role of Europe in
relation to security in the Mediterranean "called on Turkey to comply with the U.N.
resolutions regarding Cyprus and, in particular, to withdraw all troops from Cyprus". It
further "called on the European Community to take measures to promote a just solution that
will restore the unity and integrity of Cyprus with full guarantees for all its citizens and all
its ethnic communities".
During the visit to Cyprus of the Greek Prime Minister, the National Council which met on
8 June, 1991 decided to propose to the Secretary-General the convening of an International
Conference, under his Chairmanship, with the participation of the Governments of the
Permanent Members of the Security Council, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus and also with the
participation of the two communities in Cyprus. The purpose of such a conference, which
should be convened after appropriate preparation to make sure that there will be real
possibilities for progress, would be to discuss and solve all the basic aspects of the Cyprus
problem. The National Council also reaffirmed its support for a solution of the Cyprus
problem in keeping with the U.N. resolutions and the high-level agreements and reiterated
its proposals of January 1989.